Villanova University Conference Highlights Catholic Social Teaching and Worker Justice

The March 22-23 event will feature several guest speakers, sessions such as, “Putting Workers First: Catholic Social Teaching and Southwest Airlines” and “Catholic Social Teaching at Work”

VILLANOVA, Pa., March 17, 2010 – Catholic Social Teaching promotes the idea of work serving as a way to build a better person and community rather than simply a way of making a living. In an effort to highlight this key theme, Villanova University’s Office for Mission and Ministry will host a Catholic Social Teaching and Worker Justice Conference March 22-23.

The conference will be held in the Connelly Center on the University’s main campus. Co-sponsored by Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice, the two-day event will feature prominent speakers from organizations and colleges across the country and highlight the integration of Catholic social teaching and workers’ rights.

Noted speakers include the Most Rev. William Murphy, Bishop of Rockville Center, and Gabriela D. Lemus, Ph.D., Director of the Office of Public Engagement at the Department of Labor. Conference sessions will include topics ranging from “Putting Workers First: Catholic Social Teaching and Southwest Airlines” to “Catholic Social Teaching at Work”. In addition, Michelle Dempsey, from the Villanova University School of Law,will discuss "Sex Trafficking and Worker Justice."

“We’re hosting this conference to bring the ideas of Catholic Social Teaching on worker justice into dialogue with the most current thinking in social science, philosophy, theology and law,” said Barbara Wall, Vice President for Mission and Ministry at Villanova University. “Scholars will address issues such as income inequality, models of justice in the workplace, a living wage, the importance and availability of ‘green jobs,’ and the labor history of Catholics, among others.”

Villanova University, a co-educational Roman Catholic institution, was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842. A premier institution of higher education, Villanova provides a comprehensive education rooted in the liberal arts; a shared commitment to the Augustinian ideals of truth, unity and love; and a community dedicated to service to others. A wide variety of undergraduate and graduate degree programs are offered through the University’s four colleges: the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering and the College of Nursing, as well as the Villanova School of Law. With a total enrollment that surpasses 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students, Villanova is the oldest and largest Catholic university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

About Villanova

Villanova University was founded in 1842 by the Order of St. Augustine. To this day, Villanova’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition is the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University’s six colleges.